Time-lock.



No. 884,808. PATBNTED APR,14, 1908.

J. PLINDALL.

TIME LOOK. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 884,808. PATENTED APR. 14, 1908.

I J. FLINDALL.

TIME LOCK.

APPLIOATION rum) 1150.29, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' responding JOHN FLINDALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TIME-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 29, 1906.

Patented April 14, 1908. Serial No. 350,082.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN FLINDALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time-Locks and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

e present invention relates to certain new and'useful improvements in time locks, and aims to provide novel and efiicient means whereby the locking mechanism can be set so that the locking bolt can only be withdrawn at a. predetermined time.

The invention also aims to provide a lock of this character formed with indicating means whereby it can be readily ascertained from the exterior of the lock whether or not the time mechanism is working properly, and the exact interval of time which must elapse before the locking bolt can be withdrawn. To this end the locking mechanism comprises essentially a slidably mounted bolt, an operating shaft, and a series of tumblers carried by the shaft and adapted to form an operative connection with the locking bolt, some of the tumblers being controlled by the shaft, and some controlled by an auxiliary time mechanism.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises certain other novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is an inside elevation of the safe door showing the operating parts. Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view through the forward portion of the safe. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the safe. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the tumbler controlled by thetime mechanism. Fig. 5 is a similar view of one of the remaining tumblers.

Like characters of reference designate corparts throughout the several views.

The invention, as shown, is employed in connection with a safe of which the numeral 2 indicates the door. is a slidably mounted locking bolt 3 which is normally held in an operative position by means of a spring4 which is also carried by the door 2 and bears against one extremity of the locking bolt. An operative connection Carried by the door 2 is produced between the knob 4 on the exterior of the safe and the locking bolt 3 through the medium of a pawl 5 which is pivotally connected to the locking bolt, and a series of tumblers 6, 7 and 8 mounted upon the shaft 9 to which the knob 4 is attached, the tumbler 8 being rigid with the shaft while the remaining tumblers are rotatable thereon. Rigid with the tumbler 6 is the operating wheel 10, the periphery of which is formed with a series of teeth 11, each of the teeth being formed with one approximately radial face, and with an inclined face. This toothed wheel 10 is pivotally mounted upon the shaft 9 and is governed in its movements by means of a time mechanism such as a clock 12 which, in the present instance, is secured to the door 2, so that its face is plainly visible through an opening 13 formed therein.

Motion is transmitted from the clock mechanism to a shaft 14 through the medium of a train of gears 15, and this shaft 14 carries an eccentric 16 having a pawl 17 pivotally mounted thereon. The train of gears 15 can be so designed as to produce a complete revolution of the shaft 14 in any fixed interval of time, such as once in every twentyfour hours. The outer extremity of the pawl 17 is bent downwardl r as at 18 and engages the toothed periphery of the wheel 10. It will thus be apparent that as the shaft 14 revolves the pawl 17 will be moved back and forth and for every revolution of the said shaft will turn the wheel 10 through a space corresponding to one of the teeth 11.

Referring more particularly to the specific construction of the tumblers 6, 7 and 8 it will be observed that they are each formed with a notch in its periphery. The notch 19 in the tumbler 6 has an inclined wall 20 corresponding to the inclined face of the teeth 11, and this inclined wall 20 is designed to lift the pawl 5 out of the notch 19, as the wheel 10 continues in a rotary movement imparted thereto by the pawl 17. The notches 21 formed in the remaining tumblers 7 and 8 have walls 20 which are inclined in an o posite direction to that of the wall 20 of tile notch 19. With this construction it will be readily apparent that when the three notches in the various tumblers are in alinement with each other, and in such position as to receive the pawl 5, an operative connection will be produced between the locking bolt 3 and the knob 4.whereby the former can be withdrawn by turning'the latter. In

order to hold the pawl 5 normally in en gagement with the tumblers, a spring 22 is employed which is carried by the locking bolt and bears against the pawl 5. Inthis manner a frictional engagement is produced between the said pawl and the tumbler or disk 6, which is sufficient to prevent any backward movement of the wheel 10, as the pawl 17 slips over the inclined faces of the teeth 1 1.

Openings 23, which, in the present in stance are shown as segmental and surrounding the knob 4, are formed in the door 2 adjacent the wheel 10, and a scale 24 is carried by the said wheel so as to be visible through the openings. An indicating point 25 projects from the door over the scale 24 and is at the zero oint of the scale when the wheel 10 and turn ler 6 are in such position that the notch 19 in the said tumbler is located immediately below the pawl 5. When the. mechanism is in this position it will be readily apparent that by turning the knob 4 the notches 21 formed in the tumblers 7 and 8 are brought into alinement with the notch 19 of the tumbler 6, in the usual well known manner and the pawl 5 will drop into the notches and the safe can be opened by turnin the knob so as to withdraw the locking bo t. The scale 24 is sub-divided into spaces corresponding to the teeth 11 upon the periphery of the wheel 10, and each of these spaces designates a certain interval of time determined by the train of gearing 15, in the present instance, twenty-four hours. Every seven sub-divisions, correspondin to a week is preferably set off by a division ine somewhat longer than the remainder, as indicated upon the drawings, and in setting the mechanism the wheel 10 is rotated upon the shaft 9 until the division of the scale 24 under the pointer 25 designates the desired s ace of time which must elapse before the Rock can be operated. Owing to the provision of the lock with the indicating mechanism, as above described, it can at any time be readily ascertained from the exterior of the lock whether or not the time mechanism is operating properly. In order to prevent any tampering with the lock when the door is closed, the openings 23 are preferably covered with some transparent material such as the glass 26. If found desirable, a partition 27 may be located within the body portion 1 of the safe for the purpose of protecting the locking mechanism.

What I claim is 1. In a time lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, a tumbler controlled by the wheel, a tumbler controlled by the shaft, means carried by the locking bolt for engaging the tumblers, and an auxiliary mechanism for operating the wheel.

2. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a manually operated shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, a tumbler mounted upon the shaft and controlled by the wheel, a tumbler controlled by the shaft, means carried by the locking bolt for engaging the tumblers and producing an operative coni nection between the shaft and the locking bolt, and an auxiliary mechanism controlling the wheel.

3. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a manually operated shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, and having teeth formed upon its periphery, a tumbler controlled by the wheel, a tumbler controlled by the shaft, means carried by the locking bolt for engaging the tumblers and producing an operative connection between the locking bolt and the shaft, a pawl controlling the movement of the toothed wheel, and an auxiliary mechanism for operating the pawl.

4. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a shaft, a toothed wheel mounted upon the shaft, a pawl for operating the toothed wheel, a tumbler controlled by the toothed wheel, and a pawl carried and serving the double-function of preventing any backward movement of the wheel, and engaging with the tumbler to produce an operative connection between the shaft and the locking bolt.

5. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a manually operated shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, a tumbler controlled by the wheel, a pawl carried by the locking bolt, and engaging the tumbler to produce an operative connection between the locking bolt and the shaft, a second pawl controlling the movements'of the wheel, and a cllock mechanism operating the second paw 6. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a shaft having an exterior knob, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, a tumbler controlled by the wheel, a plurality of tumblers mounted upon the shaft, and controlled thereby, each of said tumblers being provided with a notch, a pawl carried by the locking bolt and designed to engage the notches to produce ari operative connection between'the locking bolt and the shaft, and a time mechanism for controlling the movements of the wheel.

7. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a manually operated shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, a tumbler con trolled by the wheel, a tumbler mounted upon the shaft and controlled thereby, the said tumblers being formed with notches, a pawl carried by the locking bolt, and designed to engage the notchesto produce an operative connection between the locking bolt and the shaft, and a time mechanism controlling the movements of the wheel.

, 8. In a lock, the combination of a locking bolt, a manually operated shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, a tumbler controlled by the locking bolt In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN FLINDALL.

by the Wheel, a tumbler controlled by the shaft, means carried by the locking bolt for producing an operative connection between the locking bolt and the shaft, a time mechl 5 anism for operating the Wheel, and a scale carried by the Wheel indicating When the lock can be operated.

Witnesses:

GEORGE E. WIssLER, LADISLAV A. KAPSA. 

